Benidorm creator Derren Litten forced to pull out of Coronation Street role

Benidorm creator Derren Litten has been forced to pull out of reprising his Coronation Street role.

Litten made his Corrie debut back in March as Maria's political rival Bernard Barnes, who stole Maria's thunder by interrupting her campaign to become a local councillor for Weatherfield.

The Benidorm legend was supposed to reprise the role again in another stint but, taking to Instagram on October 4, he revealed he was no longer able to due to scheduling conflicts with Benicon, a Benidorm reunion he'll be hosting this November.

Jeff Spicer

Alongside a selfie taken outside the Rovers Return, he wrote: "Well that’s a bugger. The dates for Coronation Street have moved by several weeks and clash with an existing contract I have (BeniCon).

"So unfortunately I have to bow out of my stint on Corrie."

He added: "I loved being on the show previously and hopefully they’ll have me back another time in this legendary soap!"

View full post on Instagram

In other more positive Coronation Street cast news though, the ITV soap recently added a new member to its cast, former Waterloo Road star Vanessa Hehir. The actress will reportedly be joining as Esther Hargrave, a member of Billy's parish.

Meanwhile, former Corrie star Helene Flanagan recently opened up about whether she'd ever consider reprising her role as Rosie Webster.

"I'd love to go back to Coronation Street at some point," she said while speaking to OK!. "I think it's obvious that everything I do work-wise just works around the kids. So yeah, probably when Charlie gets a little bit older, maybe."

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV and streams on the ITV Hub.